WEB FOCUS
Neanderthal DNA
In this focus
The recovery of substantial amounts of Neanderthal DNA will shed light on human evolution because alongside the established human and chimpanzee genome datasets, we now have a 'three-taxon statement' in which the specific genomic innovations of each species stand out. In short, Neanderthal DNA will allow us to determine precisely which parts of the human genome are characteristic of our own species, rather than primitive sequences common to both humans and chimps.
This special Nature web focus brings together exclusive video and audio coverage of the discovery along with a number of recent papers highlighting genetic and genomic discoveries that could shed light on the origin of distinctively human innovations. Image: J. Krause
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Video
Enjoy interviews with leading researchers and Nature's Dr Henry Gee as they reveal what the search for Neanderthal DNA tells us about our relationship with our closest hominin cousin with our exclusive video coverage.
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Current Research
ARTICLE
Analysis of one million base pairs of Neanderthal DNA Free access
Richard E. Green et al.
Nature 444, 330-336 (16 November 2006) doi:10.1038/nature05336
Abstract | Full Text | PDF | Supplementary Information
NEWS AND VIEWS
Evolutionary biology: Ancient genomics is born
David M. Lambert and Craig D. Millar
Nature 444, 275-276 (16 November 2006) doi:10.1038/444275a
NEWS
Neanderthal genome sees first light
Rex Dalton
Nature 444, 254 (16 November 2006) doi:10.1038/443278a
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Podcast
Hear more about how the Neanderthal DNA project was assembled on the 16 Nov Nature Podcast.
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Links
- Human Genome Collection
- Nature Chimpanzee Genome web focus
- News@nature.com Chimp Genome special
- The Neanderthal Studies Professional Online Service
- Neanderthal Museum
- Neanderthaler und Co.
- The Stage Three Project
- The Neanderthal Tools
- Anthrosource
- Joint Genome Center
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
- PloS paper, Ancestral Structure in Human Populations
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Neanderthal DNA
The quest to discover Neanderthal DNA has a long history, and goes hand in hand with new technological developments. For the first time, technology is sufficiently advanced for us to begin to ask the really big questions about the nature of humanity, and how we stand in relation to our closest evolutionary relatives.
ARTICLE
Genome sequencing in microfabricated high-density picolitre reactors
Marcel Margulies et al.
Nature 437,376-380 (15 September 2005) doi:10.1038/nature03959
Abstract | Full Text | PDF | Supplementary Information
BUSINESS
Sequencers step up to the speed challenge
Rex Dalton
Nature 443,258-259 (21 September 2006) doi:10.1038/443258a
NEWS
Neanderthal DNA yields to genome foray
Rex Dalton
Nature 441, 260-261 (18 May 2006) doi:10.1038/441260b
NEWS AND VIEWS
Ancient DNA: Neanderthal population genetics
Matthias H�ss
Nature 404, 453-454(30 March 2000) doi:10.1038/35006551
LETTERS TO NATURE
Molecular analysis of Neanderthal DNA from the northern Caucasus
Igor V. Ovchinnikov et al.
Nature 404, 490-493(30 March 2000) doi:10.1038/35006625
BRIEF COMMUNICATIONS
Neanderthal DNA: Not just old but old and cold?
Colin I. Smith et al.
Nature 410, 771-772 (12 April 2001) doi:10.1038/35071177
Abstract | Full Text | PDF | Supplementary Information
BRIEF COMMUNICATIONS
reply: Not just old but old and cold?
Igor V. Ovchinnikov et al.
Nature 410, 772 (12 April 2001) doi:10.1038/35071181
NEWS AND VIEWS
A molecular handle on the Neanderthals
Ryk Ward and Chris stringer
Nature 388, 225 - 226 (17 July 1997) doi:10.1038/40746
NEWS
Anthropologists cast doubt on human DNA evidence
Alison Abbott
Nature 423, 468 (29 May 2003) doi:10.1038/423468b
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The human genome and the chimp
The importance of having Neanderthal DNA sequences lies in what they can tell us about ourselves. As Neanderthals are our closest living relatives, any differences between human and Neanderthal DNA has the potential to tell us much about the origins of distinctive human characteristics such as language, but only if chimpanzee genes are there to provide a benchmark --- what evolutionary biologists call an 'outgroup'. It's all a matter of perspective.
REVIEW ARTICLE
Genetics and the making of Homo sapiens
Sean B. Carroll
Nature 422,849-857 (24 April 2003) doi:10.1038/nature01495
DOUBLE HELIX
The mosaic that is our genome
Svante P��bo
Nature 421,409-412 (23 January 2003) doi:10.1038/nature01400
HUMAN GENOME
Single nucleotide polymorphisms: From the evolutionary past. . .
Mark Stoneking
Nature 409, 260-261 (18 May 2006) doi:10.1038/35057279
LETTERS TO NATURE
A forkhead-domain gene is mutated in a severe speech and language disorder
Cecilia S. L. Lai et al.
Nature 413, 519-523(4 October 2001) doi:10.1038/35097076
Abstract | Full Text | PDF | Supplementary Information
ARTICLE
An RNA gene expressed during cortical development evolved rapidly in humans
Katherine S. Pollard et al.
Nature 443, 167-172 (14 September 2006) doi:10.1038/nature05113
Abstract | Full Text | PDF | Supplementary Information
NEWS
Mix and match: the hunt for what makes us human
Erika Check
Nature 443, 8-9 (7 September 2006) doi:10.1038/443008a
ARTICLE
Genetic evidence for complex speciation of humans and chimpanzees
Nick Patterson et al.
Nature 441, 1103-1108 (29 June 2006) doi:10.1038/nature04789
Abstract | Full Text | PDF | Supplementary Information
ARTICLE
Initial sequence of the chimpanzee genome and comparison with the human genome
The Chimpanzee Sequencing and Analysis Consortium
Nature 437, 69-87 (1 September 2005) doi:10.1038/nature04072
Abstract | Full Text | PDF | Supplementary Information
NEWS AND VIEWS
The chimpanzee and us
Wen-Hsiung Li and Matthew A. Saunders
Nature 437, 50-51 (1 September 2005) doi:10.1038/437050a
ARTICLE
A genome-wide comparison of recent chimpanzee and human segmental duplications
Ze Cheng et al.
Nature 437, 88-93 (1 September 2005) doi:10.1038/nature04000
Abstract | Full Text | PDF | Supplementary Information
LETTER
Conservation of Y-linked genes during human evolution revealed by comparative sequencing in chimpanzee
Jennifer F. Hughes et al.
Nature 437, 100-103 (1 September 2005) doi:10.1038/nature04101
Abstract | Full Text | PDF | Supplementary Information
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Neanderthals and us
Science is just beginning to explore the divide between Neanderthals and humans. Literature got there a lot earlier. From the Yahoos in Gulliver's Travels to the Beast People in H. G. Wells' The Island of Dr Moreau; from Wells' own The Grisly Folk to Golding's The Inheritors, Asimov's The Ugly Little Boy and Jean Auel's The Clan Of The Cave Bear, writers have found in Neanderthals and other near-humans the ideal vehicles to explore the fundamentals of human existence. Nature, too, has added a couple of more modest examples to the canon.
FUTURES
The song of the Neanderthal
Mark W. Tiedemann
Nature 404,127 (9 March 2000) doi:10.1038/35004676
FUTURES
Are we not men?
Henry Gee
Nature 435, 1286 (30 June 2005) doi:10.1038/4351286a
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